By The Associated Press

Wilson Chandler scored 15 while J.J. Hickson added 14 points and 10 rebounds in a matchup of two teams left short-handed by deals they made before Thursday afternoon's trade deadline.

Faried, the No. 22 overall pick in the 2011 draft, has been impressive this February. Coming off a 21-point, 10-rebound performance against Phoenix, the forward also scored a career-high 28 against the Los Angeles Clippers earlier this month.

Caron Butler scored 17 for the Bucks, who have not won two straight games all season. Ersan Ilyasova had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

With Denver leading 78-67 going into the fourth quarter, Milwaukee got within five points on John Henson's dunk off an alley-oop Giannis Antetokounmpo, plus a pair of jumpers by Caron Butler. But the Nuggets responded with a 12-2 run, including a powerful two-handed putback slam dunk by Faried, and put the game away.

Earlier in the day, Denver sent disgruntled guard Andre Miller to Washington, getting back forward Jan Vesely from Washington in a three-team deal that also involved Philadelphia.

Miller hasn't played since he got into a verbal altercation with coach Brian Shaw earlier this year. Shaw said before the game that ''nobody wanted to have the situation come down to what it came to,'' and the deal would be better for both sides.

Left with remarkably short benches, the Nuggets used eight players in Thursday's game, and the Bucks used nine.

Milwaukee even brought back O.J. Mayo, who had missed 10 games because of a combination of illness and conditioning issues. Mayo scored 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting in 23 minutes, but had an odd moment when he appeared to be caught tying his shoe on defense while the Nuggets had the ball in play.

Denver's ugly free throw shooting kept the Bucks in the game in the first half. The Nuggets hit only 8 of 17 free throws in the first half and led 50-42 at halftime.

NOTES: Shaw confirmed before the game that JaVale McGee had surgery. McGee sustained a stress fracture of his left tibia in November. . Bucks guard Brandon Knight was a game-time scratch because of a right heel laceration. . Shaw said before the game that he couldn't comment on a potential trade of forward Jordan Hamilton to Houston for guard Aaron Brooks.

STAR OF THE GAME

Kenneth Faried

Points

26, 11-15 FG, 4-5 3 FT

Rebounds

6, 4 OFF 2 DEF

Assists

2

Steals

1

Blocks

0

GAME LEADERS

Points

Kenneth Faried 26

Rebounds

Ersan Ilyasova 11

Assists

Randy Foye 10

Steals

Three players with 2

Blocks

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Timofey Mozgov 3

STAT OF THE NIGHT

Defense comes through for Denver

After allowing at least 100 points in 15 of the previous 16 games and an average of 112.4 during that span, the Nuggets limited the Bucks to .427 shooting. Denver, meanwhile, shot .513 from the field to help offset 16 turnovers that led to 26 points for Milwaukee.

KEY MOMENT

Nuggets turn back Milwaukee's fourth-quarter push

The Bucks trailed by as many as 13 late in the third quarter but were within five with 9:54 remaining in the game. The Nuggets responded with a 12-2 run that included an emphatic putback dunk by Kenneth Faried. Milwaukee never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.